CS/HB 411

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to child care facilities; amending s.
3402.302, F.S.; revising and providing definitions;
4providing for certain household children to be included in
5calculations regarding the capacity of licensed family day
6care homes and large family child care homes; providing
7conditions for supervision of household children of
8operators of family day care homes and large family child
9care homes; amending s. 402.318, F.S.; revising
10advertising requirements applicable to child care
11facilities; providing penalties; providing an effective
12date.
13
14Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16     Section 1.  Section 402.302, Florida Statutes, is amended
17to read:
18     402.302  Definitions.-As used in this chapter, the term:
19     (1)  "Child care" means the care, protection, and
20supervision of a child, for a period of less than 24 hours a day
21on a regular basis, which supplements parental care, enrichment,
22and health supervision for the child, in accordance with his or
23her individual needs, and for which a payment, fee, or grant is
24made for care.
25     (2)  "Child care facility" includes any child care center
26or child care arrangement which provides child care for more
27than five children unrelated to the operator and which receives
28a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care,
29wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The
30following are not included:
31     (a)  Public schools and nonpublic schools and their
32integral programs, except as provided in s. 402.3025;
33     (b)  Summer camps having children in full-time residence;
34     (c)  Summer day camps;
35     (d)  Bible schools normally conducted during vacation
36periods; and
37     (e)  Operators of transient establishments, as defined in
38chapter 509, which provide child care services solely for the
39guests of their establishment or resort, provided that all child
40care personnel of the establishment are screened according to
41the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435.
42     (3)  "Child care personnel" means all owners, operators,
43employees, and volunteers working in a child care facility. The
44term does not include persons who work in a child care facility
45after hours when children are not present or parents of children
46in Head Start. For purposes of screening, the term includes any
47member, over the age of 12 years, of a child care facility
48operator's family, or person, over the age of 12 years, residing
49with a child care facility operator if the child care facility
50is located in or adjacent to the home of the operator or if the
51family member of, or person residing with, the child care
52facility operator has any direct contact with the children in
53the facility during its hours of operation. Members of the
54operator's family or persons residing with the operator who are
55between the ages of 12 years and 18 years shall not be required
56to be fingerprinted but shall be screened for delinquency
57records. For purposes of screening, the term shall also include
58persons who work in child care programs which provide care for
59children 15 hours or more each week in public or nonpublic
60schools, summer day camps, family day care homes, or those
61programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316. The term does not
62include public or nonpublic school personnel who are providing
63care during regular school hours, or after hours for activities
64related to a school's program for grades kindergarten through
6512. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less
66than 40 hours per month is not included in the term "personnel"
67for the purposes of screening and training, provided that the
68volunteer is under direct and constant supervision by persons
69who meet the personnel requirements of s. 402.305(2). Students
70who observe and participate in a child care facility as a part
71of their required coursework shall not be considered child care
72personnel, provided such observation and participation are on an
73intermittent basis and the students are under direct and
74constant supervision of child care personnel.
75     (4)  "Department" means the Department of Children and
76Family Services.
77     (5)  "Drop-in child care" means child care provided
78occasionally in a child care facility in a shopping mall or
79business establishment where a child is in care for no more than
80a 4-hour period and the parent remains on the premises of the
81shopping mall or business establishment at all times. Drop-in
82child care arrangements shall meet all requirements for a child
83care facility unless specifically exempted.
84     (6)  "Evening child care" means child care provided during
85the evening hours and may encompass the hours of 6:00 p.m. to
867:00 a.m. to accommodate parents who work evenings and late-
87night shifts.
88     (7)  "Family day care home" means an occupied residence in
89which child care is regularly provided for children from at
90least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee,
91or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not
92operated for profit. Household children under 13 years of age,
93when on the premises of the family day care home or on a field
94trip with children enrolled in child care, shall be included in
95the overall capacity of the licensed home. A family day care
96home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following
97groups of children, which shall include household those children
98under 13 years of age who are related to the caregiver:
99     (a)  A maximum of four children from birth to 12 months of
100age.
101     (b)  A maximum of three children from birth to 12 months of
102age, and other children, for a maximum total of six children.
103     (c)  A maximum of six preschool children if all are older
104than 12 months of age.
105     (d)  A maximum of 10 children if no more than 5 are
106preschool age and, of those 5, no more than 2 are under 12
107months of age.
108     (8)  "Household children" means children who are related by
109blood, marriage, or legal adoption to, or who are the legal
110wards of, the family day care home operator, the large family
111child care home operator, or an adult household member who
112permanently or temporarily resides in the home. Supervision of
113the operator's household children shall be left to the
114discretion of the operator unless those children receive
115subsidized child care to be in the home.
116     (9)(8)  "Large family child care home" means an occupied
117residence in which child care is regularly provided for children
118from at least two unrelated families, which receives a payment,
119fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or
120not operated for profit, and which has at least two full-time
121child care personnel on the premises during the hours of
122operation. One of the two full-time child care personnel must be
123the owner or occupant of the residence. A large family child
124care home must first have operated as a licensed family day care
125home for 2 years, with an operator who has had a child
126development associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year,
127before seeking licensure as a large family child care home.
128Household children under 13 years of age, when on the premises
129of the large family child care home or on a field trip with
130children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the
131overall capacity of the licensed home. A large family child care
132home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following
133groups of children, which shall include household those children
134under 13 years of age who are related to the caregiver:
135     (a)  A maximum of 8 children from birth to 24 months of
136age.
137     (b)  A maximum of 12 children, with no more than 4 children
138under 24 months of age.
139     (10)(9)  "Indoor recreational facility" means an indoor
140commercial facility which is established for the primary purpose
141of entertaining children in a planned fitness environment
142through equipment, games, and activities in conjunction with
143food service and which provides child care for a particular
144child no more than 4 hours on any one day. An indoor
145recreational facility must be licensed as a child care facility
146under s. 402.305, but is exempt from the minimum outdoor-square-
147footage-per-child requirement specified in that section, if the
148indoor recreational facility has, at a minimum, 3,000 square
149feet of usable indoor floor space.
150     (11)(10)  "Local licensing agency" means any agency or
151individual designated by the county to license child care
152facilities.
153     (12)(11)  "Operator" means any onsite person ultimately
154responsible for the overall operation of a child care facility,
155whether or not he or she is the owner or administrator of such
156facility.
157     (13)(12)  "Owner" means the person who is licensed to
158operate the child care facility.
159     (14)(13)  "Screening" means the act of assessing the
160background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes,
161but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal
162records checks through local law enforcement agencies,
163fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection,
164statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law
165Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the
166Federal Bureau of Investigation.
167     (15)(14)  "Secretary" means the Secretary of Children and
168Family Services.
169     (16)(15)  "Substantial compliance" means that level of
170adherence which is sufficient to safeguard the health, safety,
171and well-being of all children under care. Substantial
172compliance is greater than minimal adherence but not to the
173level of absolute adherence. Where a violation or variation is
174identified as the type which impacts, or can be reasonably
175expected within 90 days to impact, the health, safety, or well-
176being of a child, there is no substantial compliance.
177     (17)(16)  "Weekend child care" means child care provided
178between the hours of 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday.
179     Section 2.  Section 402.318, Florida Statutes, is amended
180to read:
181     402.318  Advertisement.-No person, as defined in s.
1821.01(3), shall advertise or publish an advertisement for a child
183care facility, family day care home, or large family child care
184home without including within such advertisement the state or
185local agency license number or registration number of such
186facility or home. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor of
187the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
188775.083.
189     Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.